Art and commentary by Kimberly Harris

Posts tagged ‘Jon Huntsman’

And what rough crew, their hour come round at last, sleds towards the Palmetto State to face the electorate?

Eager to escape the punishing northeast weather, the Republican primary contestants suspended their jousting and agreed to disagree for a day or two while traveling to the venue that will be hosting their next confrontation. All of the surviving six were concerned about their dwindling campaign coffers, so they chipped in on the rental of a sled that will carry them most of the way to South Carolina. With the forecast calling for snow in the Adirondacks and all up and down the Appalachians, the six should be able sled most of the way to the balmy lowlands of the Palmetto State just in time for Saturday’s debate in Charleston.

Mitt Romney is leading the pack with Newt Gingrich close behind nipping at his heels. Ron Paul, always on the fringe of the mainstream, chose to travel on an inner tube so that he could remain independent from the rest of the group. He is struggling to hold his own against the leaders, and is hoping for a palmetto putsch to trounce his rivals. Huntsman and Perry are hanging on for dear life, and fear they could share the fate of their recently fallen rival, Michele Bachmann.

One can only wonder if debate fatigue has set in among the electorate after so many acrimonious encounters–twenty thus far since May of last year! Seven debates in January alone! Who will watch all of them? Next Saturday’s debate is competing for a time slot with reruns of “Seinfeld.” Which comedy will the viewers opt for?

Six surviving cats are sitting on a fence while their fallen colleague takes up residence in a nearby trash can

The results for Iowa are in! Five candidates underperformed and two exceeded expectations. There was one casualty as a result of this highly contested contest. Today, Michele Bachmann announced that she was withdrawing from the race after failing to meet even the modest expectations in the various polls. This leaves six cats standing.

The outcome was as follows:

The poll figures cited reflect the composite of multiple polls published by Real Clear Politics on the day prior to the election. Jon Huntsman did not campaign in Iowa. Was Rick Santorum’s 8-point surge for real or was it just a dead cat bounce??

Leading the clamoring clowder of cats are MichelleCat, NewtCat, JonCat, RonCat, PerryCat, MittCat and RickCat. Other felicitous felines like TrumpCat and GaryCat lay in waiting to see the outcome of the fray, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice.

There are no less than 53 contests between January 3rd and June 26th during which countless angry hisses will be exchanged and much fur will fly. It is now high noon in the State of Iowa, and with an unprecedented 41% of undecided voters, no one knows who will prevail. Which cat will begin to gradually fade into oblivion, like the Cheshire Cat of childhood lore? Could the outcome possibly be similar to the legendary duel between the Gingham Dog and Calico Cat, who simply ate each other up, leaving no trace of either adversary?